Wind

'No time to waste' | US moves to power 1.3 million homes via Gulf of Mexico offshore wind leasing

Washington rolls out plans to develop three lease areas in historical oil & gas province with view to delivering 3GW to grid from clean energy projects off Texas and Louisiana

Joe Biden.
Joe Biden.Foto: GPA Photo Archive/White House / Adam Schultz https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
  • Tim Ferry

The US plans to develop gigascale offshore wind plant in three swaths of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) with a view to powering almost 1.3 million homes, today formally announcing a proposed lease sale (PSN) off Louisiana and Texas.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), regulator of energy development on the federal outer continental shelf, is proposing by the end of 2023 to sell between one and three leases in two designated wind energy area (WEAs) in the Gulf coast covering a combined 700,000 acres (2,832km2) of shallow waters.

“There is no time to waste in making bold investments to address the climate crisis, and building a strong domestic offshore wind industry is key to meeting that challenge head on,” said Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland.

The proposed lease in Lake Charles, Louisiana WEA would cover 102,480-acres (414.7km2), 54% of total WEA, and hold around 1.2GW of capacity based on BOEM's admittedly conservative estimate of 3MW per square kilometre.
The two proposed leases on the Texas Coast – Galveston 1 and 2 – would cover 102,480-acres (414.7km2) and 96,786-acres (391.5km2) respectively, 36% of the WEA's total acreage. Each lease area would hold between 1.2GW and 1.17GW.
This is the first offshore wind tender for 2023 following three successful auctions last year and furthers BOEM's target of holding seven rounds by 2025 to meet the Biden administration’s national goal of 30GW of offshore plant by 2030. It is also the first under BOEM’s new director, Elizabeth Klein.

“BOEM is committed to ensuring any offshore wind activities are done in a manner that avoids or minimises potential impacts to the ocean and ocean users,” said Klein.

It also the first likely to leverage alternative uses for offshore wind generated power such as the creation of green hydrogen and the region’s extensive oil & gas sector supply chain.

“There is already an amazing synergy between offshore oil and gas and offshore wind,” said Erik Milito, president of industry advocacy group National Ocean Industries Association.

Gulf-based companies “have been instrumental in the development and construction of offshore oil and gas projects and offshore wind projects. Now many Gulf Coast companies will have a chance to build new wind projects closer to home,” he added.

Oil & gas suppliers and marine services firms were instrumental in building the US’ first offshore wind pilot project at Block Island, Rhode Island, and its shipyards are constructing several new vessels for the sector, including the nation’s first and only wind turbine installation vessel, the Charybdis.

“Gulf companies are already instrumental in the development of the US market and by opening new lease areas on their doorstep we will leverage our unique domestic expertise even further,” said Liz Burdock, CEO of the Business Network for Offshore Wind.

Refineries and chemical plants in Louisiana and Texas comprise around 90% US’ hydrogen demand, all of it ‘gray’ produced from natural gas, creating a huge and ready market for offshore wind powered green hydrogen. Washington’s lavish incentives for green hydrogen in recent climate legislation will also fuel demand.

Josh Kaplowitz, vice president for offshore wind at American Clean Power Association, said: “By harnessing our abundance of renewable natural resources, these projects will unleash economic growth here at home and create good paying jobs.”

The PSN will be published in the Federal Register, the nation’s journal of record, on 24 February, opening up a 60-day comment period.

BOEM anticipates stakeholder conflicts in the region from fishing fleets and the oil & gas industry as well as the US Coast Guard.

The agency seeks feedback on bidding credits that would support workforce training and supply chain development as well as fisheries compensation.

Floating to the fore

The announcement dovetails with the Biden administration's push to launch floating wind sector in the US. The US departments of Energy, Interior, Commerce, and Transportation today kicked off a two-day Floating Offshore Wind Shot Summit to advance the goal of reducing floating wind costs by over 70% by 2035.

Some two-thirds of US offshore wind potential is in deepwaters necessitating floating technologies, including along the West Coast, Gulf of Maine, and parts of the GoM.

Floating is already being deployed in the North Sea in Europe to reduce the lifetime carbon footprint of upstream oil & gas operations and similar uses are envisioned for the US Gulf.

As part of this Summit, the Department of Energy is announcing new efforts on transmission planning and research partnerships to support floating offshore wind on the West Coast.

(Copyright)
Published 22 February 2023, 16:05Updated 14 October 2023, 14:09
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